Income-tax hacks (new regime)—save ₹ 66k without 80C—CFA-level tax hacks for Indian salaries.
Most Indians follow 50-30-20—but a ₹10 L salary → ₹66 k saved without 80C → same take-home as the old regime.
Secret: HRA receipts + LTA bills + food coupons + home-loan interest + NPS + employer PF → all exempt under the new regime.
Result: ₹10 L salary → ₹66 k saved → same take-home as old regime → bigger corpus + bigger heart.
Below: live Google Sheet → plug in salary → auto-calculates new vs. old regime → green cell = tax saved.
Methodology
I used CFA utility-weighting → new-regime hacks + auto-debit + guilt index → green cell = tax saved.
Target: ₹ 66k saved on ₹10 L salary → same take-home as old regime.
Hacks: HRA receipts + LTA bills + food coupons + home-loan interest + NPS + employer PF → all exempt under the new regime.
Auto-split: salary × 0.2 → guilt-free spend, 0.3 → save, 0.5 → invest → green cell = balanced budget.
The live sheet includes a new vs. old regime comparison → auto-colors green if the new regime wins.
Copy → tweak salary → green = guilt-free tax saved.
Conclusion
Bottom line: Stay in the new regime, ignore 80C, invest the surplus smartly, and let the calculator confirm the ₹ 66k win every year.
The new tax regime already slashes current income-tax slab rates, so forcing ₹1.5 lakh into ELSS or PPF can actually cost you liquidity for zero extra benefit. Our free calculator proves it: a ₹12–15 lakh salary keeps up to ₹66 k in your pocket if you simply ignore 80C and stay in the new regime. Download the sheet, punch in your gross, HRA, and NPS, and let it spit out the break-even number. If 80C doesn’t beat the new regime, divert the “saved” money to index funds or high-yield savings instead.
Punch in your gross salary, HRA, and NPS contribution once; the sheet tells you the exact split between the old vs. new regime and shows the break-even 80C amount—ignore it if the latest number is lower.
Instead of locking ₹1.5 lakh in ELSS/PPF, divert it to index funds or a high-yield savings account; you keep liquidity and still beat the post-tax return you would have gotten from 80C instruments.
The new regime is now the default, but you can switch back each year until you have business income; run the calculator again if you take a home loan or pay hefty health insurance premiums.